Stepping Up
by TVObssessedGirl28
Summary: When Ethan is involved in a car crash, Cal realises just how bad a brother he has been. He decides to step up and be the big brother he is. And when he finds the truth about what really happened, Cal decides it's time to put Ethan first for once.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm afraid there's been an RTC." Charlie informed the team. "There are several minor casualties coming in, but there's one major one."

Cal was about to ask Charlie if he could take the major one but, Charlie handed it over to Elle. Instead, Cal was instructed to treat the minor casualties in cubicles. Wanting to know why he was in cubicles rather than in Resus, Cal walked over to where Charlie and Elle were in a conversation. As he walked over to them he noticed how hushed their conversation was. The minute the two of them saw Cal come over their talking immediately stopped. While Cal could feel his heart was starting to beat a little bit faster than usual he ignored it.

"What is it?" Cal inquired, trying to act normal.

"Why don't we go into the staff room?" Elle offered.

"No. Whatever you have to say, say it to me here." Cal replied.

When Elle answered him, he noticed her voice was much quieter than it was before.

"Ethan's being brought in. He was involved in the RTC this morning and is the one with serious injuries."

Before Cal had time to register what Elle had told him, the double doors to the ED burst open and in came Iain and Jez, rolling a trolley.

"Right, this is Ethan. He was trapped for about an hour. Pulse is weak and his resps are low. He's had 2 litres of saline. He's unresponsive with suspected neck, back and pelvis injuries as well as a suspected head trauma. He lost output in the ambulance for about 20 minutes, but we managed to bring him back." Iain informed Elle, Charlie and Robyn as they ran into Resus.

Cal hurriedly walked behind his friends as he heard Iain roll off the extent of Ethan's injuries. He was about to enter Resus when he was stopped by Elle.

"Cal, you know the rules. You can't be in here. I'll inform you if anything happens." Elle told him.

With that, she goes over to the bed and starts ordering various of tests to be done. Cal stands outside the doors looking in as his friends tried to save his brother. He was lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard Alicia come up behind.

"He's going to be okay, you know." Alicia said.

"Of course, he is." Cal agreed nervously. "It's just that I've already almost lost him in a car crash, I can't do the same again."

Alicia stands beside him for a few minutes longer before leaving him and heading back to treat her patients. Not long after she had gone, Cal heard a sound that he didn't want to hear. And then he heard Elle shout out that they've lost an output. Not being able to stand outside and do nothing, Cal pushed the doors open and entered the room. Inside he saw his friends rushing around the trolley.

"Please, don't let him die." Cal said as he watched Robyn pressing on his brother's chest.

"Cal, you shouldn't be here." Elle told him.

"I know, but you've got to say him."

"We will. Now leave."

Cal wouldn't listen. He was determined to stay. Determined to not leave Ethan's side. Elle saw how determined Cal was to remain by his brother's side so reluctantly she let him stay. A good hour went by and unfortunately there was still no output.

"I think it's time." Elle announced. "Does everyone agree?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"No." Cal raised his voice. "You can't give up on him. You've got to keep trying. You've got to save him."

"He's been asystolic for at least 30 minutes." Charlie told him. "We've done everything we can."

"Well, I'm not going to give up on him."

Cal strolled over to where Robyn stood and took over chest compressions.

"Cal," Elle whispered. "Stop. You have to let him go."

Cal ignored what she said and carried on with the CPR. It was heartbreaking to see him try and resuscitate his brother when they all knew it was useless, but they had to call it.

"Time of death: 11.45." Elle declared.

Cal began to slow down the chest compressions when Elle announced the time. His breathing was heavy and he felt his heart tighten. Cal stepped back as Elle switched off the machine. The atmosphere was sombre and soon it was deadly silent or so they thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Elle's hand lingered over the switch off button when they heard a beeping sound. Everyone in the room turned towards the machine as the beeps got steadier.

"He's back in sinus rhythm." Charlie said in shock.

Elle placed two fingers on Ethan's neck just to double check. Slowly, she nodded.

"We've got a pulse."

There was a huge sigh of relief from everyone. Cal smiled when he saw that his brother was fighting to stay alive. Walking over to him, Cal placed his hand on top of Ethan's.

"Keep fighting, Nibbles. I can't loose you." Cal whispered.

Before leaving the two brothers alone, Elle instructed Robyn to give Ethan another litre of saline and to do 30-minute hourly obs. Elle and Charlie walked back out of Resus while Robyn was finishing attaching another bag of saline into Ethan's arm.

"He's a fighter." Robyn told Cal.

"Yeah, he is." Cal smiled. "He's definitely a fighter."

"Kind of like his big brother." Robyn added before leaving them alone.

Cal gave a small chuckle and then turned back to Ethan. He could feel relaxed as he heard the steady beats of the machine and saw Ethan's chest rise up and down as he breathed. Stood by his brother's side, Cal began to stroke his hair. Even though he was a bit embarrassed doing it, afraid that someone would walk in any minute, it gave him some comfort knowing that Ethan was still alive. Cal continued to stroke Ethan's blonde hair when he heard the doors opening.

"Sorry to disturb you, Cal." Charlie said, "But, the police would like to speak to you."

"The police?" Cal asked confused.

"Yeah. They said it has something to do with the crash."

"They don't think Ethan had anything to do with it?"

"No, of course not. It's just some routine questions, I think."

Cal quickly glanced back towards Ethan before following Charlie out into the reception. Charlie led Cal into the staff room where two policemen were waiting for them to arrive.

"I'll leave you to it." Charlie told them.

"Are you Dr. Caleb Knight?" One of the policemen asked.

"Yeah." Cal answered. "What is this about?"

"Your brother is Ethan Hardy, right?"

Cal nodded.

"We've been informed by an eye witness who stated that they saw your brother lose control of the vehicle."

"I'm sorry?" Cal wondered.

"We believe that your brother was the cause of the accident."

"Ethan?" Cal asked in disbelief. "He would never deliberately endanger innocent lives."

"We would like to ask him a few questions in relation to what happened."

"Is he under arrest?"

"No, it's just routine." Said the other policeman.

"I'm afraid my brother is unfit to be interviewed the moment."

"It won't take long." Said the first policeman.

Cal shook his head.

"You don't understand Ethan is unfit to answer any questions because he hasn't regained consciousness. I'm afraid you'll have to come back some other time." Cal told them.

The two policemen nodded in understanding. After telling Cal that they would be back once his brother was able to be interviewed the two of them left. Once they had gone, Charlie re-entered the room.

"Everything okay?" Charlie asked when he saw Cal in a daze.

"They think Ethan had something to do with the crash." Cal replied.

"What?"

"That's what I said. They want to interview him when he's awake."

Charlie walked over to Cal.

"It's going to be alright."

Cal turns to face him.

"But, what if he did have something to do with the crash?"

"Then you're going to support him. But, do you believe that Ethan was responsible for the crash?"

"I don't know." Cal told him honestly.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

When Charlie asked him that question, it was then Cal realised that maybe Ethan had caused the crash because his symptoms had started. He also realised that he was going to have to tell Charlie about Ethan's diagnosis if they were going to figure out whether he was responsible for what happened.


	3. Chapter 3

"What if Ethan did cause the crash?" Cal wondered.

"And how would he do that?" Charlie asked, still not understanding what Cal was going on about.

Realising he had to tell Charlie about Ethan's diagnosis even though he'd promised he wouldn't tell anyone, Cal took a deep breath before speaking.

"You know it's been a tough year for both of us, especially over the last 7 months."

"Of course, I do. It's not easy losing a parent."

Cal nodded his head in agreement.

"Well," he carried on. "Before our mum passed away, we… I mean Ethan got some bad news."

For a second Charlie stood quiet, not quite understanding what Cal was trying to tell him, but then before Cal could explain what he was trying to say something Charlie's mind clicked and he realised what happened.

"You mean..." Charlie said, knowing what Cal was saying.

"Yeah, Ethan has it, Charlie. He's inherited the gene."

"I'm so sorry, Cal. How's Ethan coping?"

"Good. At least I think he is. He's been slowly shutting me out ever since we found out about his diagnosis and even though I am there for him, he keeps acting as if he's fine."

"And how are you?" Charlie asked, knowing that while Cal was worried about his brother, he needed to look out for himself as well.

Cal shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know. I mean I know I'm not one with a life-threatening disease, but sometimes I just wish I had the gene instead. Sometimes I wish I could just take away the disease so Ethan won't have to go through the pain of worrying when the symptoms will start."

"I know it's hard, especially when it's someone close to you. However, do you really think Ethan would wish this on you, on anyone?"

"He said he did." Cal answered, remembering the time when he overheard Ethan tell Lily that he wished Cal had it instead.

"Even if he said he did, doesn't mean he actually meant it."

"I know. I just feel guilty."

"So you think Ethan caused the crash because he started to show symptoms?" Charlie inquired.

Cal nodded.

"Right. Well, when Ethan's regained consciousness we can ask him about."

"What if he doesn't tell us? What if he just dismisses it and says he fine."

"Then you'll talk to him."

"How? He won't open up to me."

"He will. Just tell him you're going to be there for him. Be his big brother."

"That's what I've been trying to do but, he won't listen."

"He might act like he doesn't want you to be there for him because he feels like he's being a burden, but even so, you stay by his side."

Their conversation was soon interrupted by the door being swung open. Both Cal and Charlie turned around only to be met by David.

"What?" Cal asked suddenly when he saw David was out of breath.

"We need you in Resus. It's Ethan." David responded still trying to catch his breath while he spoke.


	4. Chapter 4

When Cal heard David mention his brother's name he felt his stomach tighten. Without asking any more questions, both Cal and Charlie quickly followed David to Resus. Upon coming up to the double doors they were met with a single monotonous sound. Hearing the sound, Cal would have heard voices or the thump of hands beating down on a chest. But, there wasn't. It was just the drained out noise of the machine signalling there was no response. Cal burst through the doors before either Charlie or David could stop him.

"Why aren't you doing CPR?" Cal raised his voice when he noticed that neither Elle nor Robyn were doing any chest compressions.

"Charlie, get him out of here." Elle ordered when she saw Cal.

Cal felt David and Charlie attempt to drag him out of the room, but he struggled against them.

"Let me go." Cal demanded.

Angrily, he strolled over to Elle.

"You can't just stand there and do nothing."

"I'm sorry, Cal. There's nothing we can do. He's gone." Elle told him gently.

"Well, if you're not going to try and save him, then I will." Cal said as he pushed passed Robyn and began thumping down on Ethan's chest.

By now news of what happened to Ethan had spread around the hospital. Noel, Iain, Jez, Lily, Alicia, Max, Louise, Jacob and Dylan stood outside the doors, all watching as Cal tried to save his brother. Elle knew no matter how hard Cal tried to resuscitate Ethan, he was too far gone. There was no use. He was dead. She let him carry on for a fraction longer just so he could have that tiny bit hope left. But, knowing they were going to have to call it, she tenderly placed her hands on top of his and slowed the pace down.

"Cal, let him go." Elle whispered.

Cal began to shook his head, refusing to acknowledge that Ethan was gone even though he stepped away from the trolley.

"Time of death 18.57." Elle announced as she switched off the machine.

Cal let out a sob as they were met with silence. Ethan had given up the fight to live. He heard Robyn sniffle back her tears. Looking behind him, he saw that all his friends and colleagues had their heads bowed in respect for what had just happened.

"Come on, Cal." Charlie said as he walked over to him. "Let's go to the staff room."

Cal, however, was reluctant to leave the room and to leave Ethan's side.

"Why don't we leave them to alone for a few moment." Elle suggested as those in the room departed, leaving Cal to be with Ethan. Having been left alone, Cal hesitantly walked up towards where his brother lie. It was heartbreaking for him to see Ethan lie there with wires all around him. He was still as anything and when Cal placed his hand on top of Ethan's, it was cold to the touch. Finally, the realisation of what had happened dawned on him. Cal collapsed to the floor as tears began to fall down his cheeks. He clawed his hands against the sheets covering his brother.

"Wake up, Eth. Please, wake up." Cal begged as he tried to wake him up.


End file.
